


close the space between us

by werelocked



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Boys In Love, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Multi, Pining, Polyamory, boys being dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:56:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28613196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/werelocked/pseuds/werelocked
Summary: Luke spends a lot of time thinking he knows what’s going on, thankfully his band is there to set himnot sostraight
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Julie Molina
Comments: 18
Kudos: 131





	close the space between us

**Author's Note:**

> huge thanks to Moony and Lev for looking over this for me, and to Erin for beta’ing! love you guys

Bobby had to be the most oblivious person Luke had ever met. And Luke was friends with Reggie, so that was really saying something. 

From across the stage, he watched how Bobby carefully tuned his guitar, and Reggie equally carefully twisted the tuning keys randomly to undo his work.

With a laugh, Bobby gave up. He ruffled Reggie’s hair before wrapping an arm around his shoulders, getting a bright smile in response.

Wasn’t it obvious? Even Luke could recognize the tells, so it _had_ to be obvious. How Reggie playfully liked to flirt by messing with his crush’s hair or winking at someone pretty in front of the stage. He loved instigating touches, always looking thrilled when he could make them laugh. 

This was a prime example. Reggie settled against Bobby’s side while he talked to Alex, though Reggie kept poking his cheek to get his attention back.

Then again, Luke had years to pick up on the clues when his friend was crushing on someone. He’d known Reggie longer than anyone else. They’d been inseparable since Luke chose to recruit the only other kid sitting in the sandbox to help him build the most epic sandcastle known to man. 

Even though it sucked when their hard work was immediately ruined by a passing third grader, that’s how Alex came in. A week after the incident a new kid entered their classroom clutching a brand-new set of Legos who agreed to help them build an even _better_ castle. And well, if that same new kid also happened to help Reggie and Luke dump sand in some third grader’s shoes, that was a secret that built friendships.

Like this not-so-secret crush of Reggie’s. Almost a week ago, Luke accidentally overheard him telling Alex all about his infatuation with their dark-haired guitar player when he managed to make it to rehearsal earlier than usual.

_Bobby wasn’t in the garage when Luke came in; it was just Reggie and Alex waiting on the couch together. The couch faced away from the door, so Luke crept closer to the drums in the hopes of making them jump._

_“You doing ok, dude?” Alex asked, sounding concerned. Luke stilled his hand inches from a cymbal and looked at Reggie._

_“Oh, I’m just fine.” His voice pitched high. “Still dealing with the realization I’m in love with my best friend, it’s casual.”_

_“You’re okay, Reg.” Alex reached for one of his hands, stopping the trembling._

_Reggie shot him a weak glare. “This is all_ your _fault, I was fine just thinking he was pretty.”_

 _“I know what it’s like, I just wanted to help. I didn’t know_ you _didn’t know it was a real crush.”_

 _“He just walks around looking all - gorgeous. With his stupid, perfect face and stupid, nice arms - he even has nice hands, dude. I could watch him play guitar forever.” Reggie sighed. Alex patted his shoulder sympathetically. “He’s so intense, and crazy talented, I think I_ would _watch him play music forever.”_

_“I know, buddy. You’re kind of obvious about it, your face gets all… dreamy if you look at him too long. You’re lucky he’s been clueless so far.”_

_Sagging against the couch, Reggie covered his face with his hands. “What do I do? He won’t stay clueless forever, I’ll slip up, I don’t - I don’t know how to deal with something that feels so big. Something I can’t even have.”_

_"Hey. You_ have _us.” Alex said firmly. He tugged Reggie’s hands away and made sure to make eye contact. “Wanting more isn’t a crime, and it’s not something you would lose us over.”_

_The two of them hugged, and Luke couldn’t bring himself to move while they couldn’t see him. He hovered, torn between wanting to help and not wanting to barge in. Reggie eventually pulled back, wiping his eyes. “Where do we go from here?”_

_“When you’re ready, we should tell the band. And we’ll get through what comes next together, like we always do.”_

_Instead of interrupting, Luke backed up a few paces and tried entering the garage again, being as noisy as possible so they heard him coming._

For almost five days he tried to keep Alex’s advice in mind. He waited for Reggie to feel ready so they could have their own heart to heart, with no luck so far.

That was fine. Just because they _usually_ told each other everything didn’t mean they _had_ to. Luke was fine with it. He absolutely wasn’t losing his mind in the meantime, trying to come up with ideas to help. 

From the corner of his eye, he watched how Reggie kept hanging off Bobby for the rest of practice. Maybe he could think of a way to get them together or at the very least, find out if Bobby liked Reggie back.

If only he knew when the crush became official. Reggie had always been a little starry-eyed around Bobby, since the middle school project that had thrown them together. Their music teacher just had to add another student to their group to make it even.

After briefly introducing themselves, they immediately started talking about their favorite kinds of music. Bobby could play a few AC/DC songs on his guitar which impressed them all. Even Alex, who at the time was the only one taking consistent music lessons outside of just messing around with what the school had available.

That weekend, they’d met up at Bobby’s for a project planning session. He’d given them a house tour that ended in his garage, where a whole wall was lined with his dad’s guitars. Bobby introduced them to his music teacher mom, who would occasionally drop in and let them pick her brain. He’d also been the one to introduce Reggie to the bass.

After they finished their project, Bobby extended a blanket invite to visit his garage whenever any of them wanted. He never took it back, even now that Luke essentially lived there.

But it used to be Reggie who visited the garage the most. Given that his home life was tense and unpredictable, he used the garage as a safe haven. Back then it was normal to find Reggie following Bobby around with a guitar, begging for another lesson or demonstration.

So what if that little hero worship was actually a full-blown crush? That was fine. Bobby was a good dude. A good guitar player. Reggie liked to joke Bobby taught him everything he knew.

Luke personally thought he was the better musician now, but that wasn’t important. The countless nights he and Reggie spent learning songs together, helping each other improve their skills clearly weren’t as important to Reggie either.

And maybe it wasn’t Bobby’s fault he was clueless about Reggie’s feelings, since he didn’t know Reggie nearly as well as either of them. He didn’t have Alex’s uncanny sense for when Reggie was feeling down, and when a hug could settle him like nothing else. He’d also never cuddled with Reggie during movie nights; even when Bobby _did_ come that was usually Luke’s job. 

But that was alright, Bobby could learn. And Luke could help.

Though it was easier said than done. While Luke, Reggie, and Alex were used to practically living out of each other’s pockets, they saw Bobby less frequently outside of band practice.

Like today, when they finished running through their set and Alex suggested visiting the pier to unwind. Bobby declined, waving them off for other plans. They left their instruments at the garage where they promised to meet up again tomorrow.

Alex led the way to the pier, skipping ahead a few paces. Maybe it would be a good idea to get his input, even if it meant Luke admitting he had accidentally eavesdropped the other day. It might be worth receiving one of Alex’s disappointed little frowns if they could make their friend happy.

With a whoop, Reggie ran forward to jump on Alex’s shoulders in a surprise piggyback ride.

“Very graceful, boys,” Luke remarked, amused at the inevitable and disastrous collapse that followed.

They picked themselves up and Reggie hooked an arm through Luke’s with a grin. He seemed alright the rest of the night, not at all let down by Bobby’s absence. Luke was tempted to bring it up but didn’t want to run the risk of possibly dampening Reggie’s mood. 

Still, the next day Luke made more of an effort getting Bobby to agree to a beach trip after practice.

“Pizza’s on me,” Luke promised. “Unless Alex wants pineapple and ham again, then he’s on his own.”

Alex looked outraged. “How can you judge, when you literally put peanut butter on your eggs?”

“Don’t be mad, just because you have a peanut allergy and can’t try my masterpiece.” Luke patted his arm consolingly.

“That’s not why the thought of that makes me sick,” Alex pretended to gag.

Bobby shook his head. “At least he’s never made you try his waffles sandwich surprise.”

After a long pause, Reggie dared ask. “Do we want to know the surprise?”

“Picture two Eggo waffles, with blueberries, peanut butter, _potato chips,_ maple syrup, and something else - cheese, I think?” Bobby grimaced, and Alex covered his mouth in horror.

Even Reggie looked a little green. “Cool, so Luke can never be trusted to make snacks. But I’ll take that pizza you promised to pay for, no takebacks. Let’s go!”

Alex and Reggie raided Bobby’s closet for some extra swimsuits while Luke grabbed his from his bag of clothes in the loft. Bobby snagged a few towels on their way out.

Luckily the beach wasn’t far, or very crowded. They settled on an empty spot of sand not far from some food stalls. Alex spread out his towel so he could lay down, watching the waves.

“Dude, first one to the water?” Bobby nodded at Luke.

“Hell yeah,” Luke grinned and quickly pulled off his shirt.

Luke glanced at Reggie. He was watching them, mouth slightly parted and face flushed in a way Luke wasn’t sure was from the sun. He looked over his shoulder to where Bobby was shirtless now too. Scanning him over, Luke noticed that all the time the two of them spent with the weight sets in the garage was paying off. Bobby _was_ nice to look at.

Catching Reggie’s eye, he winked and whipped the shirt at him. Reggie’s blush immediately deepened and he sat down hard in the sand next to Alex, refusing to look at either of them.

After beating Bobby into the water, they swam for a bit. At one point Luke grabbed Alex in a headlock and dragged him into the ocean, which immediately backfired when Alex tried his best to drown him. 

Bobby and Reggie left them to their struggle, leaving the ocean to investigate some tide pools. Luke slipped free from Alex and ran to the safety of the shore, where he collapsed dramatically onto the sand. When Alex caught up he sat down and started piling sand on Luke’s legs.

By the time the other two returned, Luke’s stomach was growling. He destroyed the mermaid tail Alex had been crafting to free himself while the others picked up their stuff. They all rinsed off the worst of the sand in the freestanding showers before heading to the closest sit-down pizza place with air conditioning.

Luke and Alex slid into one side of the booth with Reggie and Bobby on the other. Reggie practically inhaled his slice, and didn’t even have to ask before Bobby held out what was left of his.

Later as they were walking back to the garage, they came up to an ice cream truck. Bobby and Luke got in line, and he watched Bobby share his popsicle with Reggie while he let Alex have half his fudge bar.

They looked cute together. If Luke and Alex hadn’t been there, this could have all been a date.

He made up his mind. After their new gig in a few days, operation Get Reggie a Boyfriend would be a go for sure. But first, the Orpheum.

* * *

All of their plans were put on hold for twenty-five years.

Right when Luke thought he’d found his footing in the afterlife, another one of his bright ideas turned his whole existence upside down. First, it’d been his plan to get the street dogs that ended up killing him and his friends. Then his whole revenge plot against Bobby backfired and got them all cursed. Everything was all kind of his fault.

By some miracle, Julie managed to break them all free. Still, the emotional damage would take all of them to shake off.

Luke pulled back from the group hug they had been wrapped up in. He looked at each of their faces, unable to believe he almost lost them. Alex and Reggie, and now Julie, they were all the best parts of him.

She caught his eye. “You okay?”

He never wanted to be responsible for causing any of them pain ever again. He swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

Julie’s answering smile was blinding. She glanced back at the garage doors. “They’re waiting for me inside.” Almost simultaneously, the three boys tightened their hold on each other. Julie squeezed them in response before extracting herself. “Let me just say goodnight.”

Before opening the door, she paused and turned back. “I love you guys.”

“Love you, Jules,” Alex said, and Reggie murmured in agreement.

“Go, we’re not going anywhere.” Luke grinned. She stuck her tongue out at him and darted outside.

They filled the space she left by pressing closer together, Alex’s arm around Reggie’s waist. Luke bounced a little in place. “We did it, boys.” 

Reggie let out a deep shuddering breath, closing his eyes. “I can’t believe we get this, we get to stay together.”

Rubbing his back, Alex pressed a kiss to the side of Reggie’s head, then gave Luke the same treatment. You’ve got us, Reg. We wouldn’t let anyone change that.”

Luke tugged on the lapel of Reggie’s vest, nodding vigorously. All three of them looked at the red rose vest, realizing they were still dressed for the Hollywood Ghost Club. Immediately they broke apart and scrambled to change. After getting into comfier clothes they piled together on the couch. Luke wormed his way so he could be sandwiched between his boys. 

They sat together, reveling in the quiet after the night they had. 

Julie eventually rejoined them. Instead of trying to squeeze in the limited seat space she crawled over them and settled across their laps.

“What comes next?” Luke asked. Julie was on her back looking up at them, and she caught one of his hands in hers.

“Well, where were we? We’ve played a few clubs so now we have to get a manager to schedule us a tour, right? That’s the next step to be legends.”

“Don’t forget about recording that country album,” Reggie said.

Alex closed his eyes and sighed. “Sounds like an awful lot to do in just one day.”

“I guess we can take some time off,” Luke laughed. “One more day of not being legends won’t hurt us.”

“Wait, who are you and what have you done with Luke?” Julie pressed their joined hands to his forehead as if checking for a fever.

Luke looked over his band, the boys beside him with Julie laid across them. Alex was absently stroking Julie’s hair and Reggie shifted to lean against Luke’s shoulder.

He was filled with so much affection. _Relief._ They got to keep this. He brushed his lips against the back of her hand. “It’s alright, we’ve got time.”

The band spent the rest of the night in the garage. Alex took the lead in telling Julie what happened, starting from being kidnapped. In turn, Julie described what it had felt like, waiting to see them again. Both of them ended up sniffling and Luke could feel himself get teary-eyed in response.

Eventually all the excitement and emotions of the day caught up with Julie. She started losing the fight to keep her eyes open, so the boys carefully moved out from under her and covered her with blankets from the loft.

A few times during the night, Julie would start mumbling and tossing restlessly. Luke grabbed his acoustic and played soft melodies that settled her down each time.

Over the next few days, they spent more time than ever inside the garage. As soon as school was over and Julie hung out with her family until dinner, she came out to be with them. They still practiced several times a week, but they spent just as much time just hanging out.

Julie uncovered an old TV that they started keeping on as background noise. The other Molinas still couldn’t see them outside of performing, so turning it on helped mask what sounded like Julie just talking to herself. 

Reggie suggested weekly movie nights, and one afternoon when Flynn stayed late after practice, she became a regular. The boys kept a whiteboard on hand or had Julie translate, and they always ended up talking until the early hours of the morning.

The downtime was nice. It was fine. 

The voice Luke was used to, always pushing to practice harder, to improve the band more, was quiet. Instead of enjoying the break from self-imposed pressure, it made him uneasy. It had already been two weeks since the curse broke and after all those changes in such a short time, Luke just wanted to feel like his normal self again.

The shift was most noticeable on nights like these, during writing sessions with Julie. He could still take her lyrics and weave them through notes and melodies to make her songs come alive. However, it seemed for the first time in his life, Luke had run out of words. He could only hope it didn’t last long.

Shaking his head, Luke focused back on Julie. They had spread out on her bed with an acoustic guitar. She sat against her pillows, chewing on the end of her pencil while reading over her notebook.

“I think we’ve got it! We can get the other’s input tomorrow.” Alex had taken off earlier that afternoon with Reggie, wanting to check out the Downtown Art Walk they’d heard about from Willie.

Luke grinned. “Did you want to show Flynn when she’s over, or wait until we actually set it to music?”

“She’s probably going to get homework out of the way while we practice, so that can wait. But she did say she was bringing over her new nail polish set if we wanted to do our nails.”

“Oh, Reggie’s gonna be excited.”

Julie hummed in agreement. She nodded at his closed songbook. “Is there anything you want to work on?”

“Not tonight,” Luke said. Julie never outright asked about the lack of songs on Luke’s end lately, and for that he was grateful. She only smiled and sank further into her pillows. “You okay, Jules? You look tired.”

“A bit, but I’m fine.” Luke didn’t call her out either. He was sure she was still having trouble sleeping, like the first night in the garage when the spell broke and she’d slept uneasily.

He just picked up the acoustic and started strumming softly. Luke stayed until her eyes fluttered shut, and a little longer to make sure her breathing stayed even. He pulled the blankets over her and clicked off the light before poofing out.

* * *

When Julie came home from school the next day, she was eager to show Alex and Reggie what they had just finished the night before. 

“And then Luke thought of ending the song with this cool little drum line,” Julie demonstrated by tapping against the piano. “But anything you want to do to make it your own, Alex.”

Alex nodded. “We can play with it for sure, but didn’t you say Flynn would be by soon?”

“Right! But we never decided what we were gonna watch tonight. Flynn and I still vote Disney.”

“Luke you’ve gotta be the tiebreaker. It’s between Disney or Reggie and I wanted to watch Star Wars again.” Alex tapped out a drumroll, looking at him expectantly.

“Wait, I thought we were watching the new X-men trilogy next?” 

Reggie’s face lit up. “That’s right! That’s next on the list, right Alex?”

“How was that not even an option, and we still got outvoted?” Julie sighed. “Guess I’ll go make the snacks.” 

While she went into the house, Luke went up to the loft to grab blankets and pillows. He threw them down to Alex so he and Reggie could set up a pillow fort before the TV.

“Heads up,” he tossed a pillow at Reggie but missed, knocking over the half-completed fort.

“Hey!” Alex cried as his work was destroyed. He whipped a pillow back in revenge. The pillows phased through harmlessly but Reggie still laughed in delight and joined in the pillow fight, aiming at them both.

A pillow sailed through the air and bounced against the wall just as Julie returned with Flynn. They took in the scattered blankets and cushions, both raising an eyebrow in unison. “This is why boys shouldn’t be in charge,” Flynn said. She and Julie set down the sodas and snacks they were holding and shooed the boys away to finish the fort.

Luke poofed down from the loft, and Reggie tugged him down onto a blanket. Luke dragged Alex over, who still looked mutinous but let him do it. Reggie curled up between them. Julie turned the movie on and settled on a cushion with Flynn, balancing a bowl of chips between them.

“Hey, has Flynn been working on getting us shows lately?” Reggie asked. “Any more house parties she’s planning with Ray?”

Julie relayed the message to Flynn, who shook her head. “We haven’t started looking into gigs again yet, I thought we could all use some time off.”

Alex nodded. “That’s fair, it takes off the pressure of improving what we have and maybe writing some cool new stuff.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been coming up with some pretty good songs.” Reggie grinned, looking proud.

“That’s great, Reg. I’ve actually… I haven’t been writing lyrics.” Luke admitted. He felt their eyes on him but he stayed resolutely focused on the screen.

Julie reached out to squeeze his hand. “But you’re still creating music. We can work on the rest.”

“I’ve been struggling with the drums myself,” Alex said. “But channeling energy into writing lyrics instead has actually helped with that. I’m sure the writer’s block will pass and you’ll be back to writing kickass hits for us in no time.”

“Thanks,” Luke said softly. He wrapped an arm around Alex’s waist to pull him closer. Reggie shifted to rest his head against Luke’s chest. He stroked his free hand through Reggie’s hair as the movie went on.

It felt reassuring, knowing he wasn’t the only one having issues. Luke knew they could come back from this better than ever, even if they took their time getting there.

* * *

While Julie went out to lunch with her family the next day, the boys killed some time idly playing around with some melodies.

“I think I’ve got a beginning figured out for that song,” Alex played them a short beat that Reggie nodded along to. Strumming the bass, he sang a few of the words when Alex played the beat again to see how they went together.

Luke beamed at them from where he was sitting in the chair. “Sounds great, that’s definitely the vibe we’re going for.”

“Did you and Julie come up with this song together?” Alex asked.

“I’ve helped a bit, but,” Luke looked down at the blank page in his notebook. “I still can’t string more than a few words together.”

“Can we help?” Alex looked concerned. “Reggie and I have been writing songs, and it’s been a lot of fun-”

“Together?” Luke raised his eyebrows.

Reggie whirled around to stare at Alex, a blush spreading across his cheeks. “Yea, but we’re - it's not ready yet.”

“Hey, I’m sure it’s great. Are you workshopping ‘Home is Where My Horse Is?’” Luke tried to lighten the mood. He didn’t understand why Reggie suddenly looked so tense. “Can I hear it?”

“Maybe later. I’ve just gotta fix… some stuff.” Reggie mumbled. He fidgeted with his bass and wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. Luke didn’t push. He stared down at the blank page again.

“How about we take a break? Pick back up when Julie comes home.” Alex suggested. “We can wander around LA for a bit?”

“And go say hi to Willie?” Luke teased. He put the notebook down, a little relieved for a break from trying to force words to come out.

Alex smiled. “Yeah, it’d be cool to run into him. Maybe he’ll come to the next movie night.”

After the Orpheum, Alex had gone to find Willie and let him know they hadn’t crossed over. They had only caught up briefly before Willie decided to risk a visit to the Hollywood Ghost Club and scope out the damage.

A few days later they saw their friend again. Willie told them how nobody at the club had actually seen Caleb for a few days. He’d left no clue as to where he’d gone. It felt like a weight off their shoulders, though they stayed on alert for any of his spies or his potential return. In the meantime, Willie had been able to hang out with Alex and everyone a few times.

They set down their instruments and poofed from the garage. Without a particular destination in mind, they went to Hollywood Boulevard. Not many lifers were out so it was easy to walk along without having to phase through them.

A few feet in front of Luke, a small group of people was boarding a big red tour bus. “Hey, have you guys ever ridden one of these?” Both his friends shook their heads.

Reggie grinned. “Think we’d be able to see Willie from up there?” That was all the suggestion it took for them to poof into an empty row of seats on the upper level of the bus.

After an hour of riding through the more popular spots in LA, Alex did manage to spot Willie. He was skating along the Walk of Fame in front of the Hard Rock Cafe.

“Hey!” Alex yelled. “Over here!” Luke and Reggie waved their arms, yelling to catch his attention.

Willie skidded to a stop when he saw them. A moment later he popped into a bus seat in front of them. He placed his board and helmet on an empty seat. “Hey guys, how’s it hanging?”

“Not bad, dude. How have you been? Any trouble?” Luke asked. 

“Nah, everything’s been pretty chill,” Willie said. “Just been hanging out, doing my thing. How’s the music thing going?”

“We’re working on some new stuff. You should come by sometime to hear it.” Reggie said.

“Sure. Do you have any shows lined up?”

Alex shook his head. “Not yet, but if you wanna swing by today we can give you a private show.”

“Yea, that’d be sick. In the meantime if you guys want to keep doing more touristy stuff, do you guys want to hit up the Sunset Strip? Check out some clubs?”

Reggie laughed. “Like we’d ever say no to that.” 

* * *

“Hey, do you guys think Julie will be mad we went to see the Troubadour without her?” Reggie asked. The boys only checked out a few well-known venues before heading back to the garage.

“We just gotta promise to take her with us next time,” Luke said.

“We could make a day of it. I also promised to take her to the Los Angeles Music Center.” Willie added.

“That’ll be fun. We can ask if she wants to go this weekend, if you’re free?”

Willie nodded. “If she’s down, I’m in. I still can’t even believe she wants to hang out with me, given that it’s my fault she almost lost you guys.” He gave a dry laugh.

“No worries, dude. Julie’s very forgiving, trust me, I know.” Luke said. “Besides, the real cause of all that mess was me.”

Alex furrowed his eyebrows. “What does _that_ mean?”

Right as Luke was about to answer, the garage door opened. Julie came in and grinned when she noticed Willie. “Hey!” He flashed her a smile but didn’t say anything. She seemed to pick up on the tension in the room and frowned. “What’s going on?”

“Do you want to repeat what you said, Luke?” Alex demanded. “And maybe clarify for us?”

Luke shrugged self-consciously. “It was a joke, kind of. All I meant is the whole Caleb thing isn’t Willie’s fault, it was kind of mine.”

“ _How_?” Alex asked. “I mean you’re right about Willie, but the rest?” He moved towards Willie then back towards Luke like he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Julie caught him with a hand on his shoulder and gestured to the couch.

Reggie, Julie, and Alex took the couch. Willie leaned against the armrest next to Alex, looking awkward. It wasn’t until Luke took a seat on a separate chair that Julie gestured for him to go on.

“Well, it was my idea.” Luke said. “I wanted to get revenge on Bobby, right?”

“We all wanted to,” Reggie interjected immediately.

“But it was _my_ suggestion. I had us go over to play some stupid pranks on him. And it wasn’t even enough. We were all already hurting, but I got so mad I pushed it further. I got Willie involved and now _he’s_ feeling guilty. Clearly, my ideas are only good for hurting people.” 

Reggie shook his head. “Are you kidding? The whole reason we became a band was because of you. And that’s been the best part of my life. Your ideas have only changed my life for the better.”

“We might not have been friends if it weren’t for you, Luke,” Alex said. “We wouldn’t have started a band if you hadn’t connected us and wanted to share our music to connect with everyone we play for.”

“And then whose idea ended up ruining our band? Who wanted to go eat hot dogs out of a man’s car before the biggest show ever and ruined our _lives_?” Luke countered. He clenched and unclenched his fists, unsure how to make them understand. 

Whenever Luke had something good happen to him, he seemed to have an extraordinary talent for destroying it. Like creating Sunset Curve, only to sacrifice his relationship with his parents and not even getting to their big break at the Orpheum.

Julie leaned forward to take his hand. “Is that what you think? Have you been blaming yourself for how you all died?” Both Reggie and Alex let out strangled sounds.

“I guess,” Luke mumbled. He drew in on himself, away from everyone’s attention. “It’s not a big deal, okay? I’ve thought about it a lot and I know it’s -”

Alex stood up sharply. “ _Don’t_ say it’s your fault again. There’s no way you could have known about the food, or the curse, and it’s not on you to feel guilty for either of those things.”

“Yeah, Luke,” Reggie also came over to sit on Luke’s armrest. “If we hadn’t all agreed to get hot dogs that happened to be tainted, the next day we could’ve gone for some questionable burgers, who knows? We got food from a _lot_ of shady places, actually.”

Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Luke spoke. “I just… I keep hurting you,” He looked at Julie. “And now you.”

Julie was responsible for many of Luke’s second chances; like getting to be in a band again and getting some resolution for his mom and dad. Yet he repaid her by not only almost losing his boys again, but almost causing more loss in Julie’s life, too.

“It’s one thing to take responsibility for your actions, and trust me we’re all here to call you out when you mess up.” Julie teased gently. “But some things really are out of your control, good or bad.”

“And that curse wasn’t anyone’s responsibility but Caleb’s, okay? That goes for you, too.” Alex directed at Willie.

For a moment he didn’t respond. Willie glanced at them and away, catching Julie’s eye. Only when she smiled encouragingly did he nod once in acknowledgment.

Reggie shifted against the armrest to face Luke better. He gently drew Luke’s chin up with a finger to make eye contact. “You’ve been carrying so much guilt inside you for so long,” his voice cracked. “You can tell us anything, please let us share the load.”

“Thanks, guys,” Luke whispered. Alex yanked him up from the chair into a fierce hug. Reggie pressed in close, and Julie only took a moment to pull Willie into the hug, too.

After they broke apart, Luke kept his arms wrapped around Alex and Reggie. “Thanks for sticking around,” he said to Willie. “Sorry for the drama, we can get to the music we promised, now.”

“No worries, man. Like I said, I know how that feels. I’m glad we’ve got these three to set us straight.” Willie cleared his throat. Luke gave him a high five and went to pick up his guitar.

“Anyway, get ready for a killer exclusive performance from Julie and the Phantoms,” Reggie announced.

Alex counted them in, starting with ‘Stand Tall’. They played through ‘Edge of Great’ and ‘Wake Up’, then some Sunset Curve originals they had taught Julie that Bobby hadn’t taken as his own.

Willie whooped and clapped after every song. “You guys are killer. That’s some seriously amazing stuff. Is ‘Long Way Home’ finished yet? What I heard of it the other day was amazing.”

Julie tilted her head to the side. “We didn’t write ‘Long Way Home’.”

“ _Well_ ,” Alex glanced at Reggie and rubbed the back of his neck.

Reggie blushed brightly, just like before. Luke stared. “Is it - the song? How come Willie got to hear it and not me?”

“He happened to pop in while we were practicing, so-” Alex started at the same time Reggie spoke.

“It’s just not… still not finished.”

Willie seemed confused, but he shrugged. “I should head out, thanks for the concert. You guys are seriously amazing.”

“Wait Willie, have the boys mentioned our next movie night?” Julie walked with Willie out of the garage. “We’re watching Disney-”

* * *

Luke spent a lot of time at the Orpheum. He found he liked to go there to think, sitting on the edge of the marquee. Since the talk the band had a few days ago, he had so much to reflect on.

For a long time, he had the belief his friends didn’t understand the full picture of everything he’d done. But they were the ones to convince him he’d had the wrong idea all along. 

He wondered if his friends would let him do something to apologize for everything. It felt unlikely they would agree there was anything to make up for, but maybe if Luke could frame the deed as a thank you for getting such a weight off his chest.

It was a process, letting go of his long-held guilt, but already it felt like some mental fog had been cleared. His heart felt lighter than it had in a long time. A few words circled in his thoughts, the melody just out of reach. “Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was wrong for this…”

He played around with those words for a few moments and got nothing else. He sighed and closed his eyes. It was a start. After a few more moments of people-watching, Luke poofed back to the garage.

Alex was at his drum set, playing a bit of a song Luke hadn’t heard before. Well, he was trying to. Reggie kept darting in close, trying to reach the microphone mounted over the tom drums. It made it hard for Alex to actually move his arms very well, and he gave up so they could just sing into the mic together.

“ _So we’re taking the long way home, we’re taking the long way home._ ” 

After they finished, Alex pushed Reggie away. “Dork.”

“I’m just trying to get you singing more, dude! The world needs more Alex solos.” Setting his bass down, Reggie noticed someone else was with them. “Hey, Luke! Don’t you agree?”

Luke nodded. “Hell yeah, you’ve got a great voice. You should own it.”

“We were just finishing up. One sec.” Reggie grabbed a sheet of paper from a nearby table and leaned against Alex while they talked quietly for a few moments. Neither of them offered to show him the song, and Luke didn’t ask.

Trying to put it out of his mind, Luke focused on their plans to binge the Star Wars TV shows for the night. But he couldn’t get what little he’d heard of the song out of his head. 

Before practice the next day, he turned to Julie while they were setting up. “What do you think Alex and Reggie are writing about?”

“I’m not sure, but once they’re ready I’m sure they’ll show us,” Julie said patiently. “Don’t go looking in any more dream boxes.”

“Fine,” Luke half-hoped the others might show off the song that day, with no luck. He knew Julie was right, and he shouldn’t go looking for that paper he’d seen Reggie writing on before, but it was driving him a little crazy not knowing.

The day after, Julie had plans to take Carlos shopping with Flynn, but she asked Luke if he would be down to meet up in her room later. 

“Do you guys want to go exploring again today?” Reggie asked. “I heard Ray telling Carlos about going to the zoo together, and said they actually do some live music and stuff after hours.”

"Hell yeah, Reg. Zoo date, let’s go.” Alex grinned.

They poofed to the LA Zoo, where Reggie immediately found the way to the Australian exhibit with the koalas. Whenever he caught sight of another interesting animal, he would grab Luke or Alex and drag them over to check it out.

As they made their way around, Luke was most excited to see the lions. Alex had a wondrous look on his face all through the botanical garden, and Reggie had them race back to the entrance when he noticed the children’s zoo. He made it his mission to pet every goat in the pen.

“Hey, do you think animals can see us?” he asked. 

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. They might be able to sense us?” He wasn’t sure. There had been a few times at the park or on the street where he could swear a dog or two had stared him down. 

“You having a good time, Reg?” Alex asked.

“This is the best!” Reggie gushed. “Wait, do you think they have penguins? They’re your favorite, right?”

Alex nodded, his cheeks a little pink. “How do you - I said that _once_.” Reggie immediately took his hand and pulled him out of the children’s zoo.

Shaking his head, Luke followed after them. They went over to a map where Reggie was pointing enthusiastically at something and Alex watched with a fond smile on his face.

The way they were acting reminded Luke of something. Alex, blushing and stammering, while Reggie kept clinging to him.

 _“Zoo date, let’s go_. _”_ Alex’s words from earlier came back to him. Was this a _date_? Luke glanced at his friends again, really taking in how happy they both were. They looked really great together.

Was this really another occasion of his bandmates falling for each other? Only Luke didn’t want it to be like last time. He had decided on helping Reggie with his feelings for Bobby a little too late, and nothing came of it. 

Luke could do better this time, and at any rate Alex was a _way_ better upgrade than Bobby. Having a crush on Alex made more sense, even without all the betrayal. He was smart, thoughtful, creative, and didn’t know how not to give 100% in everything he did. Luke loved him, a lot.

There was nobody else he would trust with Reggie, and vice versa. Reggie already had years of experience making Alex laugh, calming him down, and just generally being sweet and caring as he’d always been. They were already perfect for each other.

He just had to get them to realize it. 

“Luke, come on!” Reggie called. 

Alex turned around and waved him over. “We gotta catch the penguins before the concerts start up.”

“Let’s go see some penguins, but then I gotta head out to meet Julie,” Luke said. “You boys stick around though, let me know how it is.” 

Both of them seemed a little disappointed, but he made sure to leave them smiling again before poofing out after the penguins. Julie still wasn’t back so he settled on her bed to wait. He opened up his notebook and started to write.

* * *

“Hey!” Julie bounced in with a few shopping bags. “Sorry, am I late?”

“No worries, I was just,” Luke waved his notebook in the air.

“Working on some more melodies? Did Reggie change the bass line for the second verse like he said he would?” She asked distractedly, putting items away in her closet. 

“Something like that.” 

“Can’t wait to hear it.” Julie reemerged, wearing her glasses. She took a spot on the bed. “How was your day?”

Luke smiled. “Pretty cool, Reg wanted to go see some zoo animals. How about you? Did you have fun with Flynn and Carlos?”

“Yeah, and Flynn might be back later. She was saying it’s been a while since we’ve had a sleepover, so.”

“Yeah, last she was over was movie night, right? When we stayed up till four in the morning.” Luke looked at her. “Does she know about the nightmares?”

Biting her lip, she didn’t respond. 

“If it helps, playing you to sleep seems to work a bit,” Luke suggested gently.

Julie flashed a small smile. “I don’t think it’s just the music, but also knowing that someone is nearby.”

“I’m sure Flynn would understand. She’d be more than willing to help.” He squeezed her hand.

“I’ll talk to her.” Julie sighed. “Promise. And thank you.”

“Anything for you, Jules.” Luke picked up his guitar. “Now, do you want to see what I was working on?”

Julie leaned over to look at his songbook. “‘Will They, Won’t They?’ Is that?” She snatched the book up and read over the words in silence. “Did _you_ write this?”

With a smile, Luke just started to sing. _“_ _How long we gonna do this dance? Tired of all the "will they, won't they" romance. When you hold my hand, is it just by chance?”_ Julie kept staring at him with wide eyes until he finished. 

_“'Cause I won't say, and you won't ask me. Guess you called my bluff, you know I'll never leave. So will we, or won't we? Yeah, will we, or won't we?”_

“Luke!” She smacked his arm. “That’s incredible! You wrote a song! How did it feel? What’s it about?”

“Actually, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” She immediately perked up, completely focused on what he might need. A flood of warmth filled his chest. “It’s about Reggie and Alex. I wanted to ask if you’d help me with some matchmaking.”

Julie’s face lit up for a moment. “You want my help getting with Alex and Reggie?”

“Yeah! I want to set them up together.”

She opened her mouth to speak before narrowing her eyes at him. “Wait, I’m going to need more context than that.”

“They’re pining for each other, and I want to help.” He explained the zoo date he had inadvertently third wheeled on.

When he finished, Julie just looked amused. “Oh honey, I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole.”

“But why?” Luke definitely was not whining.

“Having a crush on a best friend is something… very personal. It can sneak up on you, and you don’t even realize.” Julie was fidgeting with the bracelets on her wrist, bracelets that Luke knew were identical to the ones on Flynn’s. “I would talk to them.”

A little crestfallen, Luke nodded. To be fair, it probably was the best way to go so he didn’t mess anything up. It was why he hoped Julie would be on board with planning, to keep him in check. He had just wanted to do something nice for his friends. “Yeah, okay.”

“Wait so, you wrote a whole song about… how much you want them… just them to be together?” Julie asked slowly. When he nodded, she just sighed. “ _Boys_.”

* * *

With a decision made, Luke didn’t want to waste any more time. Corning Alex outside the garage the next day was easy.

“I know you like Reggie, Alex.”

Alex’s face journey was truly an experience. Amusement morphed into shock, then confusion. His mouth worked silently, opening and closing without sound. “What - who told you that?”

“Come on, it’s obvious.”

The disbelief didn’t leave his face. “Is it?”

“Yea, man. I know you.” When the skeptical look didn’t change, Luke continued. “Plus, I might have talked to Julie about some stuff.”

“ _That_ I’ll believe. And what did Julie say that made you come to that conclusion?”

“She was saying how getting a crush on a best friend can sneak up on someone, and they don’t even have a clue. I think that happened to you and Reggie.”

Laughing, Alex shook his head. “Yeah, I’d say _you’re_ pretty clueless.”

“Hey! What’s that mean?” 

“Come on, Reggie should be here for this.” Alex gently took his hand and led him into the garage. Reggie sat on the couch, aimlessly strumming his bass. “Reg, I think it’s time to catch Luke up on some pretty important things. He seems to have gotten the wrong idea. Or not the full picture, anyway. We should show him the song.”

Luke glanced between the two of them in confusion. “But you said the song wasn’t ready-”

But neither of them were listening to him. They held eye contact for a long time until Reggie nodded once. “Yeah, alright. Let’s do this.”

Alex was still holding Luke’s hand and tugged him to the chair. “Here, just wait.” He took his place at the drums while Reggie grabbed the sheet of paper Luke had seen.

“So, this song goes out to the boy I’ve had my eye on since I was a kid,” Reggie started. “He’s the first but—?”

“You wrote a song about your crush on _Bobby_?” Luke stared at him, completely confused now. 

“What? What the hell does Bobby have to do with anything?” Reggie asked, raising his eyebrows. 

“The crush you had when you were younger. I know your tells, Reg, I know when you start to like someone and by the way you treated Bobby differently, I figured it out.”

“That’s not - okay.” Alex sighed.

Reggie was smiling at him, shaking his head. “If someone had _let me finish_ , I would have been able to say, he’s the first but not the _only_ boy that stole my heart. As luck would have it, the second boy also happened to fall in love right back, so we wrote a song about it.”

It took Luke a moment longer than he’d care to admit. “But,” He looked between Reggie and Alex. “Neither of you ever acted any differently towards me.”

With a snort, Alex looked at him with exasperated fondness. “Why would we? You and Reggie have been it for me since we met.”

“How could it have been anyone but you? Alex and I have been in love with you for as long as we can remember.” Reggie said. “Let us show you. Here’s ‘Long Way Home.’”

Alex counted them in and Reggie started to sing. 

“ _We're taking the long way home, taking the long way home. Take me back to the middle of nowhere, back to the place only you and I share._ ” Reggie emphasized ‘you and I’, glancing between Luke and Alex with a soft smile.

“ _Kicking back in the old schoolyard, singing songs on our guitars. This is our reality, crazy stupid, you and me_.”

“ _I wanna get lost and drive forever with you, talking ‘bout nothing, yea, whatever, baby,_ ” While Alex took the chorus, Luke remembered all the time they spent just like that. 

A month before they booked the Orpheum, the band had rescued a beat-up van from the scrapyard that rarely went faster than fifteen miles an hour. Alex didn’t trust anyone else’s driving abilities, so Reggie and Luke would squeeze together in the passenger seat. 

“ _Now we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, yeah, you know we took our time to get there. We’re hiding out in a dream_.” They’d spent just as much time riding in that van as they had pushing it all around town, searching for possible venues.

All of those nights ended with the three of them driving back to the studio to squish together on the couch, putting on their favorite records, and talking about just how big they were going to be.

“ _Something like make-believe, living in a movie scene_.” Halfway through, Reggie pulled the same move from practice the other day. He got into Alex’s space and held out his microphone so Alex had two in his face.

Alex caught Luke’s eye and rolled his eyes playfully. He grabbed Reggie by the waist and pulled him into his lap. “ _We know this is the way it’s supposed to be._ ”

“ _Hitting every red light, kissing at the stop signs, darling. Green Day’s on the radio._ ” Luke would say those nights scouting for shows were some of the best nights of his life, but really that could be said for any time spent with Alex and Reggie. They were what made anything, even a mundane van ride feel special. 

He couldn’t believe how long it took for him to figure it out.

“ _Now we’re turning off the headlights, darling. We’re just taking it_ slow,” Reggie winked, as if he knew what Luke was thinking.

“ _We’re taking the long way home_ ,” The song faded out into silence.

There was a moment before anyone spoke. “So, that’s it.” Reggie finished, looking somewhat shy.

It took a minute for Luke to sort out his thoughts. Writing songs is what _he_ did for the ones he loved. This was the first time anyone turned it around on him, using his favorite form of expression to show they loved him. 

“Well, I guess Julie has a point in us sharing one brain cell,” Luke said. “Seeing as I wrote a song about wanting to be with you guys without even knowing it.”

It was their turn to be stunned. “What? _Luke_ -” Alex sounded touched.

Luke grabbed his guitar. “Guess it’s my turn. This is called ‘Will They, Won’t They.’” A spike of nerves made him hesitate and fiddle with the strings. It was ridiculous, Alex and Reggie had put themselves on the line first. But he just hadn’t expected to give any big declarations of love today. He usually wasn’t very good with emotional conversations like this, so it was lucky he had this song prepared. He could show his boys how he felt in the best way he knew how.

Taking a deep breath, he glanced at them again, at the soft smiles on their faces. _His boys loved him_. Luke played the song inspired by their date at the zoo. “ _How long we gonna do this dance? Tired of all the "will they, won't they" romance. When you hold my hand, is it just by chance?_ ”

“ _Don’t mean to press my luck, but for me this ain’t enough. I don’t want some overrated lukewarm love.”_ Alex mouthed ‘Lukewarm’ back at him, wrinkling his nose at the pun. 

“ _It’s like we got two left feet, around in circles we step and repeat.”_ Luke locked eyes with Reggie. “ _Yet when we pull in close, our lips they never meet_.” 

Reggie’s gaze flickered down to his mouth, and Luke drifted closer. “ _So will we, or won’t we? Yeah, will we, or won’t we?”_

He had to take a step back from them or he wouldn’t be able to keep going. “ _Maybe this love is mad, you’re filling every thought I have_.”

Swaying slightly with Reggie still in his lap, Alex closed his eyes for the final verse. “ _Cause I won't say, and you won't ask me. Guess you called my bluff, you know I'll never leave. So will we, or won't we? Yeah, will we, or won't we?_ ”

When he was done, Reggie’s eyes looked glassy. There was another beat of silence.

“Julie also made fun of me for writing a whole song about how bad I wanted to be with you and thinking I just wanted to get the two of _you_ together,” Luke blurted, his heart racing. 

“That sounds like Julie.” Alex’s voice cracked. He wiped his eyes. “That was beautiful, Luke.”

That soothed his nerves. “I’ve uh, I’ve got a bit of one more,” He murmured.

Alex shifted Reggie off his lap so he could move into Luke’s space. He rested his chin over Luke’s shoulder, making it very hard to concentrate on the guitar.

“ _Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was wrong for this. But you feel like the sun on my face._ ” Reggie was close too, repeating the lines into their shared mic after him. He raised his eyebrows at Luke to continue, and more lyrics came to him.

“ _So can we close the space between us now, it’s the distance we don’t need. You’re everything I love about the things I hate in me, so come on, come on, come over now, and fix me with your grace. Because I’m not too far, and you’re my favorite place.”_

The chorus was all Luke could come up with on the spot, but he knew the rest of the song would come. For now, he started at the top again. “ _So can we close the space between us_ -” He was cut off by Reggie pressing their lips together.

The kiss was soft, and made Luke feel warm all over. Like when the sun’s rays broke through the trees to shine through the leaves.

When they broke apart he didn’t even have a moment before Alex was there, kissing him breathless. They pulled back and Reggie curled a hand over Alex’s neck to draw him into their own kiss.

“You feel like the sun on my face,” Luke whispered.

Reggie laced his fingers with Alex’s, wrapping his free arm around Luke’s waist. “You’re my favorite place.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! let me know what you think ❤❤❤ or come yell at me at a-dream-so-alive on tumblr
> 
> also, I don’t own any song mentioned here. I used bits and pieces of Will They Won’t They by Jeremy Shada, Long Way Home by 5 Seconds of Summer, and Favorite Place by All Time Low.


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